新的冠状病毒的爆发“不会是最后一次”从动物传染给人类

新的冠状病毒的爆发“不会是最后一次”从动物传染给人类

The new strain of coronavirus that has killed hundreds of people in China and caused a travel lockdown of some 56 million people has been classified as a "zoonosis" because of the way it spreads from animals to humans.

这种新型冠状病毒已在中国造成数百人死亡，并导致约5600万人旅行受阻。由于其从动物传播给人类的方式，这种病毒被归类为“人畜共患病”。

Science writer David Quammen says the virus, which the World Health Organization last week declared a global health emergency, is just the latest example of how pathogens that start in animals are migrating to humans with increasing frequency — and with deadly consequences.

科学作家大卫·夸曼表示，世界卫生组织上周宣布该病毒为全球卫生紧急状态，这只是最新的一个例子，表明从动物身上开始的病原体正越来越频繁地转移到人类身上，并带来致命的后果。

"When there's an animal host, then it becomes much, much more difficult to eradicate or even control an infectious virus," Quammen says. "This novel coronavirus — whether or not it turns out to be a huge catastrophe, or something we can control — one thing we know is that it won't be the last."

“当有动物宿主时，根除甚至控制传染性病毒就会变得困难得多，”夸曼说。“这种新颖的冠状病毒--不管它最终会不会是一场巨大的灾难，或者是我们可以控制的--我们知道的一件事是，它不会是最后一次。”

Quammen's 2012 book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, traces the rise of different zoonoses around the world, including AIDS, Ebola and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). He says that one of the first questions that arise with any zoonosis pertains to the animal host:

夸曼2012年出版的《溢出效应:动物感染与下一次人类大流行》一书追溯了世界各地不同人畜共患病的兴起，包括艾滋病、埃博拉病毒和严重急性呼吸系统综合症(SARS)。他说，人畜共患病首先出现的问题之一与动物宿主有关:

How is it being transmitted?

它是如何传播的?

In the case of the new coronavirus, researchers believe that the virus may have originated with horseshoe bats in China and then could have possibly spread to other animals — which people then ate.

在这种新型冠状病毒的案例中，研究人员认为，这种病毒可能起源于中国的马蹄蝠，然后可能传播到其他动物身上——人们随后食用这些动物。

Quammen notes that humans are the common link in all zoonoses: "We humans are so abundant and so disruptive on this planet. ... We're cutting the tropical forests. We're building work camps in those forests and villages.

夸曼指出，人类是所有人畜共患病的共同纽带：“我们人类在这个星球上是如此丰富，如此具有破坏性……我们正在砍伐热带雨林。我们正在那些森林和村庄里建立工作营地。

We're eating the wildlife," he says. "You go into a forest and you shake the trees — literally and figuratively — and viruses fall out."

“我们在吃野生动物，”他说，“你走进森林，摇晃树木--无论是字面上的还是比喻的--病毒就会掉出来。”

Quammen says that the new coronavirus should be taken seriously. But he also warns against panic: "Being educated and understanding it and being ready to respond and support government response is very useful.."

夸曼说，这种新型冠状病毒应该引起重视。但他也警告不要恐慌:“接受教育、理解它、准备好应对和支持政府的应对措施非常有用。”

On the theory that palm civets were "amplifier hosts" for the 2003 SARS outbreak

根据棕榈果子狸是2003年非典爆发的“放大器宿主”的理论

It was found that some of the people who got sick very early on had eaten butchered civet. And they tested some civets, and they found evidence of the virus.

人们发现，有些人很早就生病了，吃的是宰杀过的果子狸。他们测试了一些果子狸，发现了病毒的证据。

On why bats are often hosts for viruses

根据为什么蝙蝠经常是病毒的宿主

There have been some discoveries lately that bat immune systems are "downregulated" in a certain way that allows for the metabolic stresses of being a mammal that flies.

最近有一些发现，蝙蝠的免疫系统在某种程度上被“下调”了，这使得作为一种会飞的哺乳动物的新陈代谢压力得以释放。

And the downregulating of the immune system to avoid overreaction to those stresses seems, perhaps, also to create an environment in which viruses are more tolerated in bats than in other mammals.

而免疫系统的下调以避免对这些压力反应过度，似乎也创造了蝙蝠比其他哺乳动物更能耐受病毒的环境。

On how coronaviruses have evolved through different species

根据冠状病毒是如何在不同物种间进化的

One of the reasons SARS could adapt from bat to civet to human is the fact that it is a coronavirus, which is a group of viruses that are very readily adaptable. Experts call that intrinsic evolvability.

SARS能从蝙蝠到果子狸再到人类的原因之一是它是一种冠状病毒，这是一组很容易适应的病毒。专家们称之为内在的可进化性。

On more public investment and research on new viruses

根据更多的公共投资和对新病毒的研究

This is absolutely a matter of need for more public investment, more public education, adequately funding, richly funding.

这绝对是一个需要更多的公共投资，更多的公共教育，足够的资金，充足的资金的问题。